On The O'Reilly Factor on Tuesday, author and Fox contributor Kirsten Powers was on with host Bill and guest Monica Crowley to discuss the issues of race, racism, and the Confederate flag, as has been the news cycle since the murderous terror in a Charleston, South Carolina black church last week.

As part of the discussion, Powers and O'Reilly clashed over whether there was rampant racism in the USA as liberals contend, or whether it is an isolated or fringe behavior as Bill states. During the exchange, Kirsten blurted out, and then repeated two more times, the same question to Bill: How many black friends do you have?

Kirsten never went anywhere with her point. If one is generous one might surmise that she was going to suggest that a lack of black friends might make it more difficult to realize the extent of race problems in America. In practice though, what Kirsten did was harken back to a tired old liberal saw that Bill must not only be ignorant of racism, but himself a racist, because of the color of his skin and the side of the aisle he is on. It is ironic, too, that there is no satisfactory answer to the question, no number Bill could give, no response he could make that would undo the implication of the mere question. If Bill were to reply that all of his friends were black, he'd just be that white guy who says "hey I have lots of black friends" and still be racist for it. It is not actually a question. It is a pronouncement. It is a way of saying "you don't know any better because you are yourself just a typical white racist."

Kirsten Powers may, may, have meant to find the answer to the question and then make a subsequent argument. But what she did instead was brand Bill O'Reilly with a question that is not a question, and the label of old white racist. If that's not what she meant to do, then she should make that plain. If it is what she meant to do, then one has to wonder why she should ever be brought on the show again.